Vehicle



Dec. 17,1935. 5 BARNES ET AL 2,024,199

VEHICLE Filed Jan. 14, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l v Inventors Gladeun LEaarnes Warren E Frestcm BY MW KFQLMZ ALLELEEEY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VEHICLE Filed Jan. 14, 1935 G. M. BARNES ET AL.

Dec. 17, 1935.

metres net. 1?, i935 uNrrEo STATES want PATENT GFFECE VEHICLE Application January 14, 1935, Serial No. 1,676

2 Claims.

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30,

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a vehicle and more particularly it has reference to a wheel mounting and suspension.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a mounting for a driving wheel which has an independent vertical movement and is associated in a novel manner with a yielding suspension unit, whereby the range of action of the mounting and suspension unit is controlled.-

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of elements .described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims forming a part of this specification.

A practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a vehicle equipped with the improved suspension.

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 0 Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view through the wheel mounting and suspension.

Referring to the drawings by characters of reference, there is shown a load member 5 such as a vehicle body which is to be mounted on a plurality of mobile supporting units such as wheels, one of the wheels being shown at 6. In the illustration the wheel 6 is power driven and is keyed on a spindle 1 which is mounted in bearings 8-8 in the outer or free end of a crank arm 9.

The crank arm 9 is rotatably mounted on antifriction bearing units Ill and II, the outer unit I0 carried by the cover plate l2 of a bracket l3 which is secured to the load member 5 by bolts l4, and the inner unit ll carried by the axle housing l5 and confined by the bracket. The hub of the arm is provided with packing rings I6-l6 contacting the bracket.

The bracket serves as a support for the axle housing l5 which extends through an aperture I I in the load member and is fixed to the load member in any convenient manner. The axle housing includes the usual difierential casing l8. A sprocket wheel l9 splined on the outer end of each driven axle 20 in the housing I5, is mounted on bearings 2| and 22 respectively carried by the bracket i3 and axle housing i5. A chain 23 housed in the crank arm 9 is trained about the sprocket wheel l9 and a sprocket wheel 24 fast on the spindle 7. The crank arm forms a casing which is filled with a lubricant.

The crank arm 9 carries a link 25 having a gear segment 26 which meshes with a gear segment 2'! on a lever 28 associated with a yielding suspension carried by the load member. The particular suspension illustrated in the drawings 10 is the subject of a separate application, Serial No. 708,138 of January 24, 1934.

This suspension comprises a pair of concentric shafts, the inner shaft 29 having its outer end connected to the lever 28 and the outer shaft 30 15 having a flange 3| on its outer end which engages the outside of the load member and is secured thereto by bolts 32. The inner ends of the concentric shafts are connected by splines 33, (Fig. 4) and the outer ends of the shafts are,spaced by 20 roller bearings 34. The shafts are enclosed in a tubular casing 35 whose outer end is secured by the bolts 32. These bolts also serve to attach a casing 36 which encloses the lever 28 and has a packing 31 contacting the link. 25. The link 25 25 constitutes a movable side for the casing 36 and also contacts the packing 31.

The casings enclosing the shafts and lever are filled with a lubricant.

Under normal conditions of operation the 0 crank arm does not move angularly relative to the load member which is thereby supported through the link 25, lever 28 and shafts 29 and 30. The crank arm can only move through torsional action of the shafts within their elastic 35 limit.

By selecting the ratio of the geared link and lever the amount of torsion of the shafts 29 and 30 can be maintained'within practical limits and the movement of the crank arm can be regu- 40 lated. Thus if the radius of gear segment 21 of the lever is increased and the radius of the gear segment 26 of the link accordingly decreased, the angular movement of the torsion members will be reduced.

While only one set of torsion shafts 29 and 30 has been shown it is to be understood that a plurality of such sets may be used in the same manner.

We claim:

1. In a suspension for a vehicle, a load mem-* her, a housing fixed to the load member, a driven axle in the housing, a bracket fixed to the load member and associated with the outer end of the housing, a sprocket wheel on the outer end of the axle and mounted in the housing and bracket, a hollow crank arm having one end rotatably mounted in the bracket, a spindle in the free end of the crank arm, a traction wheel on the spindle, a sprocket wheel on the spindle, a chain trained about the sprocket wheels, a link carried by the crank arm and having a gear segment, and a suspension unit carried by the load member and including a lever having a gear segment meshing with the gear segment of the link.

2. In a suspension for a vehicle, a. load mem her, a housing fixed to the load member, a driven axle in the housing, a bracket fixed to the load member and associated with the outer end of the housing, a. sprocket wheel on the outer end of the axle and mounted in the housing and bracket. a hollow crank arm having one end rotatably mounted in the bracket, a, spindle in the free 5 end of the crank arm, a traction wheel on the spindle, a sprocket wheel on the spindle, a chain trained about the sprocket wheels, and a suspension unit between the crank arm and load member.

GLADEON M. BARNES. WARREN E. PRESTON. 

